Today was a great day, my hubby and I went into "the big city" to get loads of bulk foods; stocks of lentils, split peas, rice, quinoa, sugar, flour, curry powder, nutritional yeast, cashews, granola and a whole assortment of other tasty treats! It's always fun to see what bulk foods we can get and ultimately save money on as well! Such as getting several pounds of flour for a mere $6.00! Tomorrow morning we are having pumpkin pancakes, made with the flour, sugar and organic pumpkin that we bought today...
This post, however, is dedicated to a particularly delicious batch of tofu-coconut curry, which I made in an effort to convince my hubby that curry is actually really tasty, as well as beneficial to our health! Curry has been linked to increased cognitive ability; a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease by, apparently, breaking down the plaque in the brain which causes brain death; increased cancer protection; can be used as a treatment for arthritis! It is pretty incredible that the spice mixture we know as "curry" can be utilized in so many ways, health wise, there really isn't much reason to avoid it. Right?
Curry itself is not a specific spice. Curry is instead a compilation of various spices, which are different depending on the origin of it. What most people know of as curry, in the western market that is, is a mixture of coriander, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, and red pepper. "Curry" is a sort of general term for a mixture of spices that changes depending on the origin of the recipe: cinnamon, caraway, mustard seed, nutmeg, black pepper, ginger, garlic and even clove can also all be contained within curry powder/paste.
Let me preface my tutorial by saying that after eating this curry dish, my hubby is a curry-convert! He loved it, which really makes me happy because now I can mess around with curry all I want!
Tofu Curry
I didn't use a recipe, per say, when I made this dish. Instead I assembled several ingredients together and hoped that they would mix well together...They sure did!
I started with a block of firm tofu, pressed dry and cubed into small, bite-size bits. These I fried up in a bit of canola oil for a good 10-minutes on one side, about 5 minutes on the other, until they were crispy.
Set the tofu aside:
Next, chop up an onion and saute it in some oil:
When the onions begin to turn translucent add frozen peas, saute these together until the peas are soft and warmed through:
Now take your curry paste:
Spoon about a tablespoon into the peas and onions, mix around until
it is mixed in. Once it is mixed well, open two cans of coconut milk
and pour in.
When the coconut milk and pea mixture is well blended, add your fried tofu and mix in:
Allow the mixture to simmer, tasting and adding salt/curry paste to taste, for 10-15 minutes more. Serve over warm rice and enjoy!
